< . There is a bright idea to develop production of exotic fruits, which enjoy a strong and growing demand on the international market, in the Malaga region. This would involve using a small proportion of the waters of the River Guadario discharging into the sea. The project is being advocated by Enrique Colilles, manager of Europe’s leading exotic fruits cooperative, Trops (turnover 200 million euros). The construction of a canal between the river and the Viñuela dam, storing water used for irrigating avocados and mangoes, would help resolve the recurrent problem of low yields (6 t/ha due to lack of sufficient irrigation, as opposed to more than double that in Israel), i.e. increasing the profitability of the sector. Furthermore, some of the 10 000 ha of the region’s unharnessed land could be exploited, with major positive externalities in economic and social terms. The project would pay for itself within a decade, with the region’s farmers ready to contribute to the funding. A fine idea which, let’s hope, will not end up left to drift out to sea with the river water.
Source: El Pais
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